Jonah tossed and turned in his bed for what seemed to be a majority of the night. Maria and he had enjoyed yesterday together packing and having dinner before they both called it a nigh. She didn't have to leave till after Jonah, but promised she would see him off in the morning.
The clock continued to pass time slowly as Jonah couldn't find sleep. His thoughts were wrapped up in what was to come in the morning and going forward. Jonah grabbed one of his pillows and placed it over his face.
"Fall asleep already!" He shouted into it, but not loud enough to where he would disturb Maria. His frustration starting to get the better of him.
"This is stupid. Why can't I just fall asleep and wake up to my normal life..." He thought to himself as he removed the pillow and stared up at his ceiling.
"The time is now 0430, time to wake up Jonah." The voice of the house computer stated as it also vibrated his bed.
Jonah must have dozed off at some point during the night because he opened his heavy eyes and cursed the clock. "Fine!" He grumbled and sat up in his bed, shifting and placing his feet on the floor.
He ran his hands across his face and rubbed his eyes, knowing it was going to be a long day and the feeling of little sleep creeped all throughout his body. "I'm going to be miserable." He muttered as he stood up and turned on the lights, looking over at the officer cadet uniform that he would wear for the first time.
First thought he needed to take care of his hygiene, taking as shower, brushing his teeth, the usual. Jonah was big on keeping himself together and didn't want to look or smell like a bum. Orphans had bad reputations, and he didn't need to feed the monsters known as bullies.
High school was tough enough for him when it came to that. As soon as other students found out that Maria and he were orphans, the bullying started. Luckily Jonah was no slouch, and he was able to fend most of them off or simply ignore them. Maria though, he continually watched over. He wouldn't let anyone bully her if he could help it.
Jonah placed on his uniform pants, undershirt, and the uniform jacket followed by the black gloss belt and just as shiny shin high boots. He stood back and looked in the mirror and had to admit he looked pretty good in a uniform and the red and black colors of the cadet uniform looked sharp together.
A knock was heard at his door and the voice of Maria, "Jonah are you up?" Maria stated sleepily as Jonah pushed the button and the door swished open.
"Yeah, I'm up and ready." He stated as he stood before Maria in the uniform. Maria blushed slightly and smiled as she looked Jonah up and down. "Oh, a man in uniform, what will I do..." She pretended to almost faint and then began to chuckle.
"You look amazing Jonah!" She exclaimed as she gave him a hug. She held onto him for longer than she meant to and then whispered, "This sucks though..."
"You're telling me." He replied with a sigh and then looked down at her, "But I won't be able to leave if you keep holding onto me like that." He laughed as Maria let him go and took a step back.
"Sorry, I just...I'm going to miss you." She said with sadness in her voice. "And I will miss you too Maria. We will always have our promise and through that we always have each other." Jonah reminded her as he grabbed his packed bag and walked out towards the kitchen.
"What time to do you leave again? Jonah asked her as he made himself a cup of coffee.
"1300 today is what they told me." Maria replied as she took a seat on one of the stools in the kitchen.
Jonah simply nodded as he took a sip of his coffee and looked out the window which was just now starting to show signs of morning, the sky slowly lighting and taking away the night shadows.
"I'll call or write as soon as I can and you do the same, you hear me." Jonah requested without looking at her.
"Of course, I will, and you better hold up your end. I know how you get distracted." She exclaimed with a fake pout. "Do you have everything you need?" She asked, ready to remind him of anything he may have forgotten.
Jonah chuckled and went through everything in his bag with her, clothes, hygiene products, his picture, charger, all the things he would need. "I even have a picture of us on my phone to remind me of our promise." He smiled.
Maria teared up and quickly wiped away the tears, hoping Jonah wouldn't notice. "Good...good." She said with a crackling voice.
"Oh Maria." Jonah said as he walked over to her and gave her another hug. "This isn't the end by far." He comforted her and ran his hands through her hair. "Just a new beginning, for both of us."
She gave a nod followed by a small sigh, "Yeah your right. Doesn't make it any easier though." She sniffled and wiped her eyes again.
The door bell rang and Jonah knew it was time. He looked at Maria and gave her a wink as he grabbed his bag and headed towards the door with her in tow. "A promise is a promise." He said as he kissed her on her forehead and then opened the door.
On the other side was two enlisted imperial army soldiers standing at ease, both looked ready for anything and you could tell were no nonsense. "Cadet Owens?" The male standing closest the door asked with a gruff tone. Jonah nodded in confirmation.
"I'm Sergeant Mcintire and this is Corporal Anderson, we are here to take you to your departing flight." The sergeant stated without much emotion. Corporal Anderson stepped forward and stook out his hand and Jonah wasn't sure wether to shake it or hand him his bag.
"Your bag please." The corporal requested as he noticed the debate Jonah was having with himself and to save the boy from an awkward exchange.
"Oh yes." Jonah said as he handed over his bag and then looked back to Maria. "Till next time." He said with a smile.
"Until next time." She replied and placed a hand on his arm in a goodbye gesture.
Jonah stepped outside and followed the men to the hovercar that was parked just outside the house with imperial army colors and markings. He glanced back and saw Maria standing in the door watching and giving a small wave.
He waved back and then stopped when he reached the car. The doors opened and the corporal placed his bag in the back while the sergeant awaited him to take a seat.
"Any day now Cadet." The sergeant stated a sense that he didn't have time for long goodbyes, and this wasn't his first rodeo of partaking in this type of assignment.
"Sorry." Jonah said as he climbed into the car and the sergeant closed the door. They would both sit up front while he sat in the back, the corporal driving.
"We will arrive at Imperial Base Tricor within the hour. From there you will depart on your flight to Solitude. There will be no detours or delays. Is that understood cadet?" The sergeant stated from the front passenger seat.
"Yes sir." Jonah replied as he watched out the window as they drove off, Maria waving the entire time. Jonah attempted to wave back but wasn't sure if she could see him through the tinted windows of the vehicle.
"Lesson one. I'm not a sir, I work for a living as we enlisted like to say. You will refer to me by my rank, understood." The sergeant quipped.
"Yes sergeant." Jonah replied as he sighed and looked down at his feet. "This is going to be just great." He thought to himself sarcastically.
The hover car traveled throughout the streets without even a bump or deviation. Hovercraft where the preferred ground transportation as the roads didn't require nearly as much maintenance with them as they use to with tired vehicles.
The trip was quiet, and Jonah just watched out the window as the exited the city and left the lights behind. The son was now peaking over the horizon and casting its orange and yellowish glow across the earth.
The hovercar finally arrived at the gates to Imperial Base Tricor and the vehicle stopped when it reached the gatehouse. The sergeant and corporal both showed their ids and pointed to Jonah in the back seat.
The guard looked over each of them and then nodded and waved them on through. "You will receive and ID upon reaching Solitude. You are not to go out on your own or leave any designated area until then. Individuals caught without proper ID are subject to prosecution up to execution. Understood?" The sergeant said as they drove through the gate.
"Yes, sergeant I understand." Jonah replied as they continued through the base and headed towards what appeared to be a series of landing strips with aircraft.
One of the aircraft Jonah recognized as a HIAF Phoenix, a hypersonic jet that the military showed off when it was first released. It could haul just about anything that would fit inside and was the quickest way to travel within Earth's atmosphere.
The hovercar drove right up to it and stopped near the front ramp where other soldiers, officers, and crew were loading and unloading items from the craft. "This is your ride." The corporal stated as the sergeant and him stepped out and opened the door for him to exit and grab his bag.
"Enjoy your future kid." The corporal smiled as he handed Jonah his bag after Jonah had stepped out of the hovercar.
"Thanks corporal. I'll try to." Jonah muttered as he looked up at the large aircraft.
"Oh, you won't have a choice in that." The corporal chuckled as he looked up to where Jonah was looking. "The military will make sure of that."